Is there an easy-ish way to change how my front door opens

skm1981

So we recently bought a new house and I'm just not a fan of the front door because you can only open it with a key, from both outside and inside.  Obviously from the outside, that's what I'd expect, but from the inside, it's just annoying.  If someone knocks at the door, I need to get the key to open the door, and then I also worry about if we needed to get out in an emergency, needing to find the key.  I know replacing front doors can be a bit pricey, so I was wondering if there is a relatively cheap and easy way to change this.  It has a silver door knob on the inside only, but it doesn't twist/move, it's just to help with opening the door when you unlock it.  I just wondered is there a way we can replace that with something that does twist so that when we don't lock the door, we can simply open it by turning it?  Hopefully this makes sense, and if it doesn't, that you can work out what I mean by the picture.

YellowCarBlueCar

I'd need a closer picture of the lock to be sure, but it looks like a standard Euro cylinder lock.  If so them it's easy enough to get a replacement with a thumb twist knob on the inside.

theoretica

It should be possible to change the lock to do this, but you might need to inform your insurers if it does not meet the security standards you told them you had.

greyteam1959

What am I missing here ??
Just leave the key in the lock.
That's an MSE money saving tip.
😁😁

Jeepers_Creepers

Almost certainly there are plenty options for straight-forward change there, one of which will be a thumb-turn lock for the inside if that floats your boat - a real time saver. That's what we went with recently.

Are you hoping to DIY this? If not, call out a friendly local locksmith, ideally one that's recommended. They'll give you options and prices.

Sandtree

greyteam1959 said:

What am I missing here ??
Just leave the key in the lock.
That's an MSE money saving tip.

On the basis of the "we bought" I'd assume the OP doesn't live alone. The problem of leaving the key in the door is that if they don't come home together then whoever comes home later cannot get in... spoken as the person stuck outside for 20 minutes because the Mrs took a bath with music and "didn't hear" the doorbell.

grumbler

Sandtree said:

greyteam1959 said:

What am I missing here ??
Just leave the key in the lock.
That's an MSE money saving tip.

On the basis of the "we bought" I'd assume the OP doesn't live alone. The problem of leaving the key in the door is that if they don't come home together then whoever comes home later cannot get in...

If it's a euro cylinder lock, just make a habit of pulling  the key slightly out after locking the door

skm1981

greyteam1959 said:

What am I missing here ??
Just leave the key in the lock.
That's an MSE money saving tip.
😁😁

No, I don't want to do that.  I remember doing at my last house and leaving the spare key in the lock from the inside, coming home and I couldn't unlock the door from the outside, so went through all kinds of hassle to knock the key out of the lock through letterbox, and this door doesn't even have a letterbox, so I'd be screwed.  And I guarantee there will be a time where this happens if I do that.

Plus it's just annoying.  When the postman knocks at the door, I run down the stairs, find the key, put the key in the lock, then open it, it's just a long-winded process, when I could just pull a handle down or twist and it would open.

skm1981

This is the lock.  I was hoping it would be something we could do ourselves, well my husband anyway, he's pretty good with DIY.

grumbler

It's euro cylinder, just find one of the right size with thumbturn inside

Jeepers_Creepers

They need a handle too, Grumb, as that round knob is only a 'pull'.

SKM, is that a working lever handle on the outside? Or is there just a key slot too?